Sustainable Santa Fe Plan Topics
Working group name/topic: WaterOverarching Goals and Objective – In what ways does this topic area need to progress to achieve greater sustainability?
(e.g., Move rapidly towards creating affordable, low carbon transportation options in Santa Fe)
Continuing to use innovative technologies and strategies to meet demand efficiently, working to keep technical realities and long-range planning goals at the forefront of decision making, and proactively grappling with the shortages and challenges of climate change to ensure system resilience and maintain groundwater reserves.
Overview – Background information that could provide history, recent context (facts/figures), relevance for a sustainable community, strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats (SWOT) analysis.
Climate change in our region will lead to warmer temperatures and droughts, as well as to heavier rain events. This will affect Santa Fe’s water supply in a number of ways. Native surface water supplies are projected to decrease by up to 30% by the 2050s. Recharge to groundwater will decrease. Storm water flows will be more intense, leading to increased flooding, erosion, and potentially property damage.
Currently, most of the aquifer recharge in our area is from snowpack that accumulates in the winter in the mountains. As we have observed in recent years, with warmer temperatures, there has been less snowpack even when there has been average precipitation. Certain communities that have relied on wells are now experiencing a drop in the water table, and there are even cases of wells going completely dry. This is particularly true in areas that rely on aquifers that are in fractured granite. .
In order to maintain supply, local governments will need to undertake various projects to slow down storm water flows, increase water infiltration into the aquifers, to proactively explore solutions to the challenges of climate change, to maximize the resiliency of water sources, and to continue to make the most efficient use of our water.
The City of Santa Fe has four sources from which it can draw water:
· The Santa Fe River originates in the mountains above the City and is managed via two City owned reservoirs in a closed watershed within the Santa Fe National Forest.
· San Juan – Chama project water, which originates in the headwaters of the San Juan River and is diverted beneath the continental divide via federally constructed tunnels before being discharged into the Heron reservoir on the Rio Chama 70 miles upstream of that river’s confluence with the Rio Grande and 85 miles upstream of the Buckman Direct Diversion (BDD) facility, which was brought online in 2011 and which diverts and treats the water for delivery in both the City and County systems.
· The City Well Field is a group of wells located within the central portion of the City of Santa Fe, many of which have been in use as a backup supply for the Santa Fe River for more than 50 years.
· The Buckman Well Field consists of 13 wells located near the Rio Grande and along the route of the raw water transmission line through which the BDD diverts San Juan – Chama water from the Rio Grande.
The City also has a wastewater treatment plant, and the effluent from that plant is used to water golf courses and for other outdoor watering that does not require potable water. The remainder of the water is presently released to the Santa Fe River.
In the unincorporated part of Santa Fe County, most residences and businesses use primarily groundwater resources, either from a private or shared well. However, the County also has a water utility that provides approximately 1,100 acre-feet of potable water to approximately 3,100 residences and businesses in certain unincorporated parts of the County – mostly in those areas that are close to the City of Santa Fe. The County utility’s water comes primarily from the BDD, which treats both Rio Grande surface water and San Juan – Chama water for delivery to the County system. When the water treatment plant is not producing water, the City provides a backup supply for the County utility.
There are more than 10,000 groundwater wells within the county. The hydrology is complicated for groundwater availability/resources. Many permits for new domestic, NMSA 72-12-1 wells issued by the State Engineer require metering and reporting, but enforcement is minimal. Pre-basin and domestic wells are required by state law to be limited to the amount historically put to beneficial use, although many users view the wells as being available for an unlimited amount of water.
Agriculture in the rural areas, on the other hand, tends to rely on surface water from networks of acequias that transport water from various reservoirs or streams in the foothills of the mountains to groups of land parcels. There are numerous different acequia systems in the County, and each is administered by a mayordomo. However, the landowners who have the rights to use the acequia water (parciantes) make decisions collectively about how to maintain the system and how reductions in allocation are to be shared in times of water shortage.
One other major facility that is managed by the County is the Quill Waste Water Treatment Facility, located on the grounds of the New Mexico State Penitentiary. Currently, the treated wastewater (about 120,000 gallons per day) is land applied, but there are plans to renovate the plant and to reuse that treated wastewater in various ways.
Resources – Organizations, Services, Documents
Organizations
· City of Santa Fe Water Division
· Santa Fe County Utilities Division
· Santa Fe Watershed Association
Services
· The City of Santa Fe Water Division provides a reliable, safe and sustainable water supply to meet the needs of customers and community through operation of a water utility
· Santa Fe County Utilities Division provides safe, reliable and sustainable water and sewer utility service to customers in an efficient and responsible manner.
· City of Santa Fe Water resources: The Santa Fe River, San Juan – Chama water, The City Well Field, and the Buckman Well Field
· Santa Fe County Water Resources: San Juan – Chama water, the Rio Grande, City of Santa Fe
Planning
· The 2015 Santa Fe Basin Study (SFBSSFBS) predict that by 2055 a roughly 30% reduction in surface water supply for both of Santa Fe’s surface water resources, and an increase in population that could create an undersupply of as much as 9,200 acre-feet under the most extreme scenarios.
In order to better utilize the findings of the SFBS to implement projects designed to address the projected supply-demand gap, the City is hoping to secure funding and support from the BoR for a 2016 Basin Study Update (SFBSU). The intention of SFBSU will be to refine the climate change predictive model, in order to identify benchmarks in water supply availability between the present and 2055, so as to enable the City to optimize a gradual implementation of strategies for addressing the gap in supply.
· During the creation of the SFBS, one of the major findings was that the City’s most viable future source for municipal water could be the return flows from the City’s Waste Water Treatment Plant. The City – in collaboration with the BoR – has undertaken a Wastewater Reuse Feasibility Study (FS), that recommends the City can best capitalize on treated wastewater as exchange water to be returned to the Rio Grande, so as to either enhance the City’s right to divert water from the Rio Grande, or to meet administrative requirements by utilizing reclaimed water.
· Santa Fe Municipal Watershed Plan: The plan addresses four areas critical to the maintenance of the watershed: (i) vegetation management and use of prescribed fire; (ii) water management; (iii) public awareness and outreach; and (iv) financial management based on “Payment for Ecosystem Services.” This plan is unique in that it seeks to fund forest restoration activities using the Payment for Ecosystem Services model as an insurance policy against future threats, particularly of catastrophic fire, to the municipal water supply.
Projects
· San Juan-Chama Canal Lining - The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority has researched water lost to infiltration along the San Juan – Chama canal system and determined that thousands of acre-feet could be prevented from infiltrating via canal lining. Costs for this project would be borne by the various San Juan – Chama project contractors, including both the City and County of Santa Fe.
· Quill Wastewater Treatment FacilityUpgrade - The County is budgeting significant funds to upgrade the Quill Wastewater Treatment Facility, for which the County has a 23-year lease. If the treated wastewater produced is of sufficient quality, it can be used again for other needs, like irrigation, construction, or even possibly general household use. Some of it may also be returned to the Rio Grande, thereby generating return flow credits that would allow the County to take more water out of the river at the BDD Water Treatment Plant.
· The Aamodt Regional Water System - The federal government, the State of New Mexico, Santa Fe County, and four pueblos (San Ildefonso, Nambe, Pojoaque, and Tesuque) in the Pojoaque Valley have signed an agreement to construct a new water treatment and supply system, which will take water from the Rio Grande, treat it, and then distribute it. The water treatment plant will be located within the San Ildefonso Pueblo, and the water will be distributed throughout the Pojoaque Valley area to the four pueblos and to any non-pueblo residents who sign up for water service. .
Documents
· Climate Change and the Santa Fe Basin- A Preliminary Assessment of Vulnerabilities and Adaptation Alternatives, 2013
· Water Utility Transmission and Storage Master Plan 2009 Executive Summary
· 2015 City of Santa Fe Annual Water Report
· City’s Water Conservation and Drought Management Plan (WCDMP)
· Joint City/County 2015 Santa Fe Basin Study (SFBS)
· City’s 2017 Basin Study Update (SFBSU)
· City’s Wastewater Reuse Feasibility Study (FS)
· City’s Long Range Water Supply Plan (LRWSP)
· City’s 40-year water plan
· City’s Strategic Marketing Plan for Water and Conservation
· City’s Asset Management Plan
· City’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP
Targets - Quantifiable, time-bound, and reasonable goals that will support the over-arching objective. Each target should define the timing for achieving it. Timing should be Immediate, Near Term (within 2-3 years), Medium Term (by 2020) and Long Term (by 2030 and beyond)
(e.g., average MPG of community vehicles are 25+ MPG within the Medium Term)
(Please review, modify, and expand)
· Evaluate the likely costs and potential benefits associated with a Regional Water Authority by 2018.
· Continue to aggressively pursue opportunities to reduce GPCD through greater water efficiency.
· Increase on-site utilization of rainwater.
· Provide incentives and remove permitting hurdles, to installing residential and commercial greywater systems.
· Provide incentives and remove permitting hurdles for net-zero construction practices.
· Adoption of a new groundwater model for OSE administration of the Santa Fe Basin
· Ensure the continuation of traditional irrigation practices
Strategic areas – these are the primary areas in which the recommendations will impact, in order to meet the suggested targets.
(e.g., vehicle efficiency, vehicle fuels use, urban density, public transportation)
1. Integrated, regional land use and water planning for appropriate development
2. Continue efficient use of municipal water resources
3. Ensure that demand is not allowed to outstrip supply through integrated land use and water permitting both for municipal customers and domestic well users.
Actions – Actions are recommendations, within the different strategic areas, that will help to reach the targets. These could be programs, policies, or projects.
Each action should include:
· Description - What the recommendation is, why it is important, and its measurable impact
· How - Major steps needed to implement the recommendation
· Timing - When the it should be initiated (Immediate, Near Term, Medium Term, Long Term).
· Who -Responsible parties, including who leads and who supports
· Resources - An estimate of the resources necessary to implement it, including financing, partners, staffing, etc.
· Strategic area – which strategic area is this recommendation impacting?
1. Improve Groundwater Modeling and Monitoring: There is a need for higher resolution and improved OSE administrative groundwater model in order to be able to make informed decisions regarding groundwater use and protection in the region. It is also important to monitor how the groundwater supplies are being affected by climate change.
2. Coordinated regional planning for a resilient municipal water supply: The question has been raised as to whether or not the City, County, and region would benefit from a unified Regional Water Authority or are better off working cooperatively and independently to meet the differing needs of their constituents. On the one hand, a single Authority with shared planning goals could reduce competition and allow cost savings in administration. On the other hand, a single authority could reduce regional resiliency in the event of system failure, diminish the independence of rural portions of the county as their interests are outstripped by the needs of the populous urban core, and reduce the city’s ability to act in its best interests. In addition, questions of equity and cost sharing would need to be addressed, and land use permitting powers integrated between the City and County. These issues should be evaluated and a determination made as to how to proceed.